There was standing room only at Leysdown village hall where resident after resident slammed controversial proposals to build 160 homes on part of the village's Harts Holiday Camp.

Tuesday night's public meeting was called by camp owners Park Holidays who are proposing a mix of housing and employment space on the land but it has sparked fears from locals that it could see the population of the village increase by up to 30 per cent.

The site for the proposed development is off Park Avenue and it covers 11 acres and would replace empty and derelict chalets in the older part of the camp.

Ian Butter, from Rural Solutions, consultants for the owners, faced a storm of protest from angry residents at the two hour long meeting.

He said: "There is nothing set in stone at the moment and this is only a proposal. The scheme would help to regenerate Leysdown. Something has to happen to kickstart communities like this."

Resident Claire Errington, 20, of Park Avenue, said: "We have 450 signatures on a petition stating that we do not want the scheme and a further 136 names on our Facebook site.

"The doctors surgery cannot cope with the number of people in the village already. We like the village as it is."

For full story see next week's Sheerness Times Guardian